Our last day at the Ligthouse!

     I am a little behind updating this, but our last full day at the Lighthouse was Sunday, and it was chocked full of good times!  It started with Brett doing Morning Watch on the beach again, and this time it was even more quiet and peaceful as last time we were down there.  This messages was on how "God wants a relationship with YOU".  We pray that the families who don't know the Lord WILL after this week!
     After that, the kids went to Flip Flop for their last time (and mostly played in the pool), while parents went to their last "Common Grounds".  Volunteers started packing things up throughout the day, as the truck was coming at 4 pm to load everything up.  So we didn't have a lot of "conched out" time that day, but the families did so that's all that matters!
     Sunday night we had a "picnic" dinner, donated by "Pizza by the Sea" and Eleanor's yummy salad with strawberries!  And then we watched a SLIDESHOW of our week!  There were so many cute pictures!
     Monday (yesterday) we all met under the tent one last time and said our "see ya laters" (we don't say Goodbye at the Lighthouse, just "see ya later").  Let's just say there were a lot of tears!  This has been an incredible week, and no one wanted to leave or have to say goodbye.  We decided as volunteers though, that we want to come back to same place, with the same group at the same time next year, so I hope that really happens!  Lisa and I can't thank everyone enough for their hard work, caring hearts and flexibility all week!  It was incredible!

Much love....
Lisa and Carolyn (for Team 8)

Day 4 at LFR

     Today began with Morning Watch on the beach!  What a way to start the day!  Brett did an amazing job leading worship and talking about how "God is in CONTROL"!  As I (Carolyn) walked around taking pictures, I saw so many sweet moments between parents and their children.  Everyone was just singing and looking out into the ocean at God's beauty, and I can only imagine what they must have been thinking about.  I just really hope that everyone heard the message and can FEEL God's love this week!  That is our biggest prayer!

     After Morning Watch, we had talent show practice and then more POOL TIME!  I think these kids are having too much fun this week, and from the look on their faces, I think the volunteers are too!  After flip flop, we had some much needed "conched out" time.  Some of us walked down to where the families were, and I loved taking pictures of families and kids playing together...like the one on here of cute Ella Adams and Riley Rogers....little sweethearts!

     Tonight was our low country broil dinner, followed by the much anticipated TALENT SHOW!  We saw acts like card magic tricks, princess dances, throwing a football, a Lighthouse Cheer and much more!  The talents were all great and I saw some proud parents watching in the audience!  The only sad part about tonight was saying goodbye to Bob and Livi Sikina.  Evidently Nolan Sikina is doing better, so they were going to pick up him and Becki after the Talent Show, and start their long drive back to Michigan.  At least we got a few fun days with part of their family, and hopefully they will come back on another Lighthouse Trip soon, when Nolan is feeling better.  They are amazing, as are all of our eleven families here this week!

    I'll end this by bragging on our volunteers this week.  Tonight, at Nightcap, Brett asked us where we saw God this week, and I said one of the ways was in the volunteers.  Everyone of them have been amazing, especially with their family partner kids.  I have seen God just fill them with this strength and energy this week, in the midst of being exhausted, and just pour it into these sweet children.  No one has complained, and everyone is getting along great and pitching in with no questions asked.  Lisa and I could not be more thrilled with this team!  Thank you ALL!  I know you have been a huge blessing to your family partners, and our leadership team as well!

Until tomorrow....

Carolyn, Lisa and Team 8

Day 3 at LFR

     Today started a little rough with the news that one of our kids, Nolan Sikina, had spiked a fever and gone to the hospital last night.  His counts were zero, so they were going to admit him for a few days.  Becki, his mom, stayed back to say goodbye to everyone (Dad, Bob, was with Nolan), and there were tears everywhere.  One of the Dad's here, Israel Rogers, got up to put his arm around her and asked if he could pray for her, and right there with all of the volunteers and families around, he prayed the most beautiful prayer, knowing exactly how she must feel.  So Becki took off to Pensacola to be with Nolan for a few days, and Bob is coming back here for 2 days to stay with Livi, their daughter.  We were so glad that Livi decided to stay.

     For flip flop this morning we practiced for the Talent Show (which will be tomorrow night), and then we went to the pool and played.  After lunch, some of our great male volunteers used the golf carts to transport the moms over to a house we had across the street, for "moms pampering day".  Our female volunteers rubbed their feet, massaged their shoulders and did manicures for the mommas.  Our idea with this is that these moms have had to do things with their hands and feet (through their cancer journey) that they never imagined, and we just wanted to be like Jesus when he washed the disciples' feet.  So we set a quiet atmosphere, but as soon as the moms got there, the room was filled with laughter and smiles.  (:  Jackie Hodges prayed for all of them before and after, so that's when a few tears came.  But overall, it was such a sweet moment!

     Now we're off to dinner and POOL GAMES TONIGHT!  Relay races, hoop games and cannonball contests....bring it on!

Please pray for the Sikina family (Nolan, Becki, Bob and Livi)....

Team 8

Day 2 at LFR

     Today was day 2 with our families, but our first full day following our schedule with the kids.  We started off with a great breakfast and morning watch devotional from Brett (our worship leader and emcee) on why "God is Good".  Then the parents were off to "common grounds" with Buck and Eleanor, but not without a few tears from 2 or 3 kids who didn't want them to leave.  We assured parents it wouldn't last long and to go enjoy themselves, and sure enough, after some golf cart rides and swimming in the pool, there were nothing but smiles on their faces and laughing in the air.  It was such a fun and busy morning!  Two of our kids, Nolan and Brayden, have just finished chemo treatments, and they are exhausted, so a few of us stayed indoors with them most of the morning, but otherwise, everyone was outside playing and swimming.  

      After parents were reunited with their kids around noon, we all had lunch together and then it was time for "conched out".  This is when the parents and kids have family time for several hours, and the volunteers typically CRASH (or "conch out") on the beach or by the pool.  And that's just what we did!  A few hours of down time did us good and we were all ready to go tonight!  Around 5 pm, volunteers picked up their family partner kids, said goodbye to mom and dad again, and the parents went out to dinner (compliments of "Bud and Alley's" in Seaside), while the FP's stayed with the kids at their condos and ate dinner and played with them.  At 6:30 we all joined back up at the tent for ice cream sundaes, a small dance party and then we set out blankets in the grass and watched "Air Bud" the movie!  God provided us with a cool breeze tonight and a beautiful day, so it could not have been more picture perfect!

     The volunteers finished the night, as we do every night, in room 413 for "nightcap".  This is when we gather together to recap the day (highs and lows), go over the schedule for the next day, and sing and praise God for our many blessings!  Brett sang us out with "Jesus Paid It All", a perfect reminder that we were made clean and whole and our sins were wiped away thanks to the sacrifice that Jesus made for you and me, and we owe it all to HIM!  Even these sick, frail bodies that some of these kids have are clean and whole and PERFECT in God's eyes, and that's what we pray the parents can all hang on to this week.....a little bit of HOPE.

     Thanks to all of you (family and friends) who made it possible for us to be here this week, and for all of you who are praying for us and these families!  We ask that you especially lift up the 11 children here this week, four of which have serious brain tumors.....so please pray for a miracle and for God's healing hands to comfort each of them and their parents and siblings who love them SO MUCH!  And then go hug your own kids, nieces, nephews etc. and thank God that they are healthy.

In Him,

Team 8

Our first day at the Lighthouse

This will be quick because we are all so tired, but it's a GOOD kind of tired!  Yesterday our helpful, happy volunteers ALL showed up with smiles on their faces, ready to work, so that was the first thing to be thankful for!  Then, today all 11 of our families arrived tired but safely (we found out the other day that one family, the Reid's, could not make it because of Aidyn's chemo effects, so please pray for them).  After their family partners got each family settled in their condos, we all met back under our tent for a yummy dinner (thank you Donna and the meal teams), and family introductions.  (:  It was a super fun day, and we are ready to start our first full day with flip flop in the morning tomorrow.  (:

For the volunteers, the night ended with "nightcap" in Buck and Eleanor's room, and after we did a little encouragement and update for tomorrow, Brett sang us out with some incredible worship music!  He is our worship leader AND emcee this week, and is already proving to be as fun and wonderful as we expected.  (:

THanks to our family, friends and prayer warriors who are reading these!  We are all good and excited to be here! 

Much love,
Team 8

Introducing our Families and Volunteers!

We are one week away from meeting the families who are coming on our Lighthouse Trip, and we can't wait!  Below I will introduce each of them and post their caringbridge sites.  I hope our readers will take a few minues to look at each one, and PRAY PRAY PRAY for each family!  Each one has a child with cancer, so most of us can't imagine the burdens they will be carrying with them as they come to Gulf Place next week.

But first, I will introduce our wonderful volunteers.  We have 21 wonderful men and women who are coming on this trip to serve the families and love on them for the time they are with us at Gulf Place.  They include:
Christen Bohanon
Maggie Butler
Amy Davis
Carolyn Harrison
Kevin and Camille Hegwood
Hollly Mallory
Nan Morgan
Jan and Mike Bearden
George and Sandy Kaufman
Betty and Ernie Janelle
Callie Craig
Hayden Barber
Jan Mooney
Micki Donegan
Jackie Hodges
Katie Statham and her mom Ada

All volunteers are coming from Atlanta, except Amy Davis, who is coming from Washington, D.C. and Maggie Butler, coming from Tennessee!  Lisa Wood and I (Carolyn Norton) will be their Family Partner Coordinators.  And the rest of our leadership team includes Katie Frank (Ligthhouse Staff), Brett Younker (Worship Leader) and his wife Aynsley, Eric Gray (Production Team), Jefferis Gray (Production Team), Michael Statham (production team), Donna Clark (Kitchen Lead) and Eleanor and Buck Barber (Common Grounds).  We're a mighty force, and we're all so excited for this opportunity!

The 12 families joining us next week include:

• The Adams Family (Grace, Joey, Vicky and Ella)               http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ellaadams
• The Churchwell Family (Brent, Kristi and Jessie Claire)  www.caringbridge.org/visit/jessieclairechurchwell 
• The Goswick Family (Timothy, Deanna, Starla and Jade)
• The Hicks Family (Kirsten, Jeff, Taylor and Courtney)                              http://www.carepages.com/carepages/Courtney2001
• The Marecle Family (Wendy, Wayne, Serena and Sevanah)   www.carepages.com/carepages/sevanahscancerchallenge
• The Martin Family (Maranda, Jonathan and Brayden)       http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/braydenmartin 
•  The Reid Family (Mark, Dora, Amber, Brittany, Matt and Aidyn)    http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/updatesonaidyn 
•  The Taborda Family (Oscar and Christian)
•  The Rogers Family (Sherry, Israel, Noah and Riley)       http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sherryrogers
• The Ruiz Family (Theresa, Rangel, Sol and Emilio)                    http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/emilioruiz
• The Sikina Family (Bob, Becki, Nolan and Livi)            http://www.carepages.com/carepages/NolanSikina
• The Stadler Family (Timothy, Megan, Renee, Jared and Ethan)

We are so excited to welcome them all with open arms next week!  We know it will be a fun week together, and we're hoping these families will find REST and LAUGHTER at the Lighthouse!  Thank you for following along on our trip and keeping the families, volunteers and leadership team in your prayers!

Carolyn and Lisa
For more information on the Lighthouse Family Retreat, please visit:  http://www.lighthousefamilyretreat.org/